[Proglover]

congrats OP, at the end of the day, that's what's all there is about it: that you're happy
 
 

 

[f00fighters]

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Congratulations on your new pair of headphones
 
I need to check myself out some of them M50's at some point to see just what all the fuss is about....the only other headphone that I've seen get such rave reviews as often are the Denon D2000 at twice the price.
 
 

Thank you. They are definitely worth checking out. Honestly, I was expecting to be underwhelmed, with muddy bass and distortion, along with veiled highs. At first, it came off that way, until about 10 to 15 minutes of listening. Then they opened up, and made me smile. The bass is not bloated or overwhelming at all. It's perfect, and present, only when it needs to be. If you have a track with thumping bass, you'll hear it, and if don't, then no worries. The highs/treble are not as sparkly as grados, but they have significant sparkle. This headphone is on the warmer side, so don't expect brightness. I played everything ranging from The Supremes to Korn to Phil Colins (yes, I admit. I listen to Phil Colins.). Almost everything sounded fantastic. And best of all, was it was all unamped. I may not buy an amp at all now. From reading the posts on here, regarding the M50 and an amp, most of the responses are "you don't need one for the M50". I feel like I discovered a hidden treasure, LOL. 
 
If I was going to critique this headphone, I'd make it a pinch brighter, increase the sound stage more, possibly enhance the mids a bit, and make them open back. This HP covers a wide genre of music quite well. Grado fans may find this a tad warm, and it is in comparison, but when I listen to them, I don't feel like anything is missing. The sound is full. This is the most fun I've gotten from a headphone in awhile. I could fall asleep listening to these. 
 
I would have to call this by far one of the best unamped "from the iPod/iPhone" headphones for all around music listening. If I was going to use an analogy, I'd say, picture a gorgeous female supermodel, and a morbidly obese unattractive woman. Now picture the supermodel has the personality of a moth, and the morbidly obese woman has a wonderful personality, who's voice you find appealing. The M50's are like that fat girl with the great personality. Think of them as the ugly scottish woman from American idol, if you will. Not great to look at, but boy, what a beautiful voice. Forgive my brutal analogy, but damn- I'm really happy with these headphones.
 
 

 

[shane55]

Well... congrats on the new cans.
I've been a big fan of the M50's and consider them great 'all-rounders'. They have a great seal and wonderful dynamics. They are not neutral, but close, being slightly on the warm side. They are punchy and do improve with age, so break them in gently (normal listening volume or just slightly louder), with a variety of music... for upwards of 50 hours. Off-head or on-head break-in... it's your choice. Either way, enjoy!

 

[Thommohawk]

You're welcome. And LOL @ M50's being the Susan Boyle of headphones hahaha! 
 
As for the brightness/wider soundstage - I might be misunderstanding but could you not get a dac and amp synergy to cover this ? You're M50's don't need an amp but equipment synergy  might still apply....I've no idea....perhaps more experienced folk can help me out on that.
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Thank you. They are definitely worth checking out. 

 

[f00fighters]

I don't know what's wrong with me. I always do this -giving a glaring review, prematurely, based on initial impressions, without allotting proper burn in. So far, I have about 30 to 40 hours on my M50's and the finesse has worn off. I guess they are starting to sound more neutral and reference like, rather than as fun. There are two things that I can't get over with this headphone as of yet. The somewhat congested feeling of a the narrow sound stage (perhaps due to the closed-back design), and the lack of sparkle. I may be able to get over the sparkle issue, if the sound stage was larger. And from what I read on these forum, it seems as though amping with this phone would only be a very marginal benefit.
 
Do any of you have any better recommendations or advice?

 

[shane55]

So... what are you currently using to power these? What are your source files, etc?
I'm curious if improvements could be made there, only because I find that the M50 have a good deal of 'sparkle' for me, and I'm pretty insistent on my 'highs'.
 
But yeah, I mostly agree about the slightly claustrophobic quality of the 'closeness'. Doesn't bother me... too much.

 

[Thommohawk]

Quote:

I don't know what's wrong with me. I always do this -giving a glaring review, prematurely, based on initial impressions, without allotting proper burn in. So far, I have about 30 to 40 hours on my M50's and the finesse has worn off. I guess they are starting to sound more neutral and reference like, rather than as fun. There are two things that I can't get over with this headphone as of yet. The somewhat congested feeling of a the narrow sound stage (perhaps due to the closed-back design), and the lack of sparkle. I may be able to get over the sparkle issue, if the sound stage was larger. And from what I read on these forum, it seems as though amping with this phone would only be a very marginal benefit.
 
Do any of you have any better recommendations or advice?

I don't want to sound like a broken record but you should give the DT 990 Pro a try, I can't say better than it nails what you are asking for and it costs pretty much the same as the M50's do. The expansive sound stage and sparkle are the most impressive aspects. It's also got some good bass on it too. 
 

 

[shane55]

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I don't want to sound like a broken record but you should give the DT 990 Pro a try, I can't say better than it nails what you are asking for and it costs pretty much the same as the M50's do. The expansive sound stage and sparkle are the most impressive aspects. It's also got some good bass on it too. 
 

I've never tried the DT990's, but Beyers are known for their 'highs'. I've had the 250 and 600 ohm variants of the DT770, and I can assure you that brightness was not lacking... (understatement).

The DT880's are also extremely bright.

 

[f00fighters]

Quote:

So... what are you currently using to power these? What are your source files, etc?
I'm curious if improvements could be made there, only because I find that the M50 have a good deal of 'sparkle' for me, and I'm pretty insistent on my 'highs'.
 
But yeah, I mostly agree about the slightly claustrophobic quality of the 'closeness'. Doesn't bother me... too much.

 

I'm using the iPhone 4 w/ Apple lossless as my primary, and iPad w/ lossless as my secondary via the headphone jack. I'm really divided with this headphone. There are times when it's fantastic, especially with R&B/POP. I am listening to SEAL (Kiss by a Rose) and it sounds terrific. Bass is well defined and highs are there, but not to sparkly, which is fine for this genre, and sound stage is surprisingly good giving me an out of head experience. But my passion and bulk of my music is Rock/Alternative, and for many of my tracks, the sound stage seems more reduced. Maybe some of it is poorly recorded tracks. I am just a little confused at this point. I can definitely see the value, and what people find appealing about this phone. 
 


Quote:

I don't want to sound like a broken record but you should give the DT 990 Pro a try, I can't say better than it nails what you are asking for and it costs pretty much the same as the M50's do. The expansive sound stage and sparkle are the most impressive aspects. It's also got some good bass on it too. 
 

 
 
Well, I was originally considering the DT990 premium. I'm concerned about the extremely recessed mid range that everyone talks about. From what I've read, it seems I would have to go for the 600 ohm version w/ some insanely expensive amp setup to drive them properly, I imagine. I was thinking about the Beyer DT990 32 or 250 ohm version, and maybe a total bithead? I'm not sure what the heck to do. There's nothing worse, than purchasing a pair of heads, only feel like something is missing. I want the music to feel full, with sparkle and excellent bass response, decent mids, with a wide sound stage. I like bright, but not too bright. Is there a headphone that fits that bill, for $300 or less? 
 

 

[Thommohawk]

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Well, I was originally considering the DT990 premium. I'm concerned about the extremely recessed mid range that everyone talks about. From what I've read, it seems I would have to go for the 600 ohm version w/ some insanely expensive amp setup to drive them properly, I imagine. I was thinking about the Beyer DT990 32 or 250 ohm version, and maybe a total bithead? I'm not sure what the heck to do. There's nothing worse, than purchasing a pair of heads, only feel like something is missing. I want the music to feel full, with sparkle and excellent bass response, decent mids, with a wide sound stage. I like bright, but not too bright. Is there a headphone that fits that bill, for $300 or less? 
 

I know what you're saying, but at the same time you have to appreciate that you want a certain thing(s) from your headphone which you aren't getting enough of with your current set, and at any price range no matter what you do or how you choose to amp or not amp there's headphones out there that just won't jive well with you personally, but the opposite is also true imo.
 
But ime with the DT 990 Pro (I'd recommend this if u wanted to keep prices similar to M50 budget) my pair sounded too harsh when amped as in too much of everything which was fantastic for about 20 minutes but to be honest though too much of a good thing at that point I'd say, so yeah although it says they need amping @ 250 ohm impedence I'll probably get shot for saying this lol but this headphone to my ear does not need amping and sounds much nicer unamped for me as when doing so it's a fair bit more duller/muted not in terms of volumes as such but mainly in terms of response intensity and yet despite it sounding more lax/mellow when unamped as compared to the smashmouth juggernaut that it is when amplified - unamped it still brings the fun in spades, is totally engaging and musically full. I don't think there's a genre it won't do to a good standard imho. Also Blu ray sounds truly awesome with them too! 
 
From what you've described to me thus far I'd say you'll be delighted with the DT 990 Pro or the Premium. I'd chance it with the Pro version first though at least then you have a reference point before you perhaps spend yet more money for a comfier fit, better build quality and perhaps slightly better sound. Which is okay btw but yeah you should deffo try them. Happy hunting!

 

[Thommohawk]

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I've never tried the DT990's, but Beyers are known for their 'highs'. I've had the 250 and 600 ohm variants of the DT770, and I can assure you that brightness was not lacking... (understatement).

The DT880's are also extremely bright.

Sorry double post, yeah my 990's are very bright but to be honest I like that which is a surprise for me because I thought coming from warm headphones I'd hate it but no....it just means I get more clarity and the highs are offset somewhat by the storming bass too I feel. It's cool when I'm on my PS3 though because I can watch a blu ray with theatre-like presentation, then listen to some hip hop or d&b which these headphones do really well, I can listen to some rock which they do really well for me, and then I can lose myself in a game of Uncharted and I can hear all the sounds of the jungle with the birds chirping. Wide soundstage and great imaging was a very welcome bonus as well. Excellent! 
 
The only negative I have with the 990's is sibilance but for me the only time it stands out is when there's successive 'S' words in rapid succession but that's surprisingly relatively rare. I'm happy with my 990's but I'm still after checking out the DT 880s, Denon D2000 and also the DT 990 600 ohm lol. I figure the only thing that could top this is even better build and even better comfort. Sorry if I'm starting to sound like an advert lol! Not really intended....

 

[f00fighters]

What do you guys know about the Sennheiser 598? I'm really curious to try it out; maybe get a total bithead as well? The combo together would cost about as much as on beyer 990dt premium 250 to 600 ohm. From what I've read, the 598 is semi-bright, which might be what I'm looking for, and has a very spacious sound stage. I heard bass is decent, but could be better. Maybe a proper portable amp could satisfy? Thoughts?

 

[crinacle]

What OP was experiencing was what I went through too...

After a while with the M50, people tend to go "Man, this is a good headphone, but something's... lacking..." At this point, these people ditch the idea of getting all rounders and get 'specialists' for their favorite genres. Mine was the HFI-580s

 

[derycksan]

I second the Ultrasone route.  I went with the 580 as well and haven't looked back.  Demoed my buddies m50s for a while and there were missing something, Ultrasones, while not perfect (but damn close for the cost), were pretty damn close to my ideal sound.  Sometimes I wish for a more spacious sound, but for 90% of what I'm listening to, the 580's do what my ears want. 
Quote:

What OP was experiencing was what I went through too...

After a while with the M50, people tend to go "Man, this is a good headphone, but something's... lacking..." At this point, these people ditch the idea of getting all rounders and get 'specialists' for their favorite genres. Mine was the HFI-580s

 

 

[Thommohawk]

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What do you guys know about the Sennheiser 598? I'm really curious to try it out; maybe get a total bithead as well? The combo together would cost about as much as on beyer 990dt premium 250 to 600 ohm. From what I've read, the 598 is semi-bright, which might be what I'm looking for, and has a very spacious sound stage. I heard bass is decent, but could be better. Maybe a proper portable amp could satisfy? Thoughts?

I've never heard them, but you should be aware that I was strongly considering them as apparently they sound great and for me they look awesome and seem to look extremely comfortable but I read that they had the same headband cracks issues that the HD 595 had....that was enough for me to give them a wide berth and go for Beyerdynamic instead.